The Talented Jester
by Eria
Summary: Gravitation and Gundam Wing crossover. Shounenai. As Duo learns the inner workings of a lead vocalist and lyricist unconsciously through Ryuichi's training, he has no idea that his first week of work is under the sharp eyes of Tohma's lookalike.
1. Prologue

_Author's notes: Alright. Keeping this brief. I've had this in the works for a couple of years, so I'll just be putting this up 'cause I felt like it._

_Disclaimers: Me no own Gundam Wing nor Gravitation or any charas therein._

_Warnings: Crossover, AU-ness. Gravitation storyline set past Eve wars in GW universe._

* * *

_Oh look.. Just another sunny day not a cloud in the sky, hear the passerby-ers in their ebb and flow of humanity.. the wonderful clean aftertaste of orange soda on a lunch break._

"MAXWELL! I have had it with you! YOU'RE FIRED!"

The young man blinked up at his obviously disgruntled employer.

"I'm on my lunch break."

Turning red in face at 'Maxwell's' obvious lack of concern, the fat, aproned man pointed his chubby fingers at him.

"You have taken 'breaks' all day long. I won't tolerate a slacker!"

Tossing his head back, the braid flopping back down, 'Maxwell' started laughing.

"I've already inventoried, catalogued, and organized your entire stock for the day. Sliced up, wrapped, priced, and labeled several cows, chickens, and pigs. All which is more than your other employee managed in a week's time. Don't tell me you're upset because I worked harder and am leisurely spending my free time. Y'know you would have things easier if you just bought that laser-cutter like I suggested, instead of running this place as backward as you do."

The butcher's face purpled. "I will not tolerate your smart-mouthing, snotty-nosed attitude! You are no longer working here!" He shoved an envelope at Maxwell. "You can take your bloody pay. And I never want to see you around here again!"

With that the haughty man stomped away.

"I didn't want to work here anymore anyways, bastard." Maxwell murmured under his breath. _Great. Just great. Just starting a job three days ago, and now I'm fired. Who would've thought a person with the guts and credentials of Gundam piloting under the sleeve couldn't manage holding a job for more than a month at a time._

It'd been nearly a decade since the end of the War… and still not a steady job.

What made matters worse was that none of the other guys ever had trouble. Heero and Wufei were in Preventers, Quatre was the owner and head of Winner Enterprises Inc., with Trowa as his bodyguard.

_Only me._ He thought, darkly.

Crinkling up the empty soda can in a tight fist, he stood up, looking out of the alley into the busy street of Tokyo.

He had moved here for Heero… _That's old news._

Tossing the mangled can into the dumpster, Duo snorted, finally walking free of the alleyway.

_This sucks. Where am I going to get a job? I'm probably blacklisted by now._

Sighing, he looked at the envelope forlornly before folding it and placing it into his pocket, looking down only for an instant before someone had crashed into him.

Stumbling slightly, Duo looked down curious to see who had run into him.

"Whoa, watch it kid."

Light brown hair. Curious dark blue eyes… _a shade too light to be— Don't think about him._

But the teenager wasn't looking at him, was looking behind him with a slightly worried frown.

Sound popped back in, and Duo, confused by all the screaming, instinctively crouched down reaching for the gun that hadn't been there in years; then just as quickly stood back up knowing that there wasn't any gunfire.

And almost immediately regretted attracting attention as he stood up; a stampede of screaming girls was not a exactly an armed battalion, but still pretty dangerous.

The kid glanced at him smiling brightly, before pushing Duo aside and ducking into the alleyway Duo just left, hiding behind the dumpster.

And then Duo was surrounded by squealing girls from all sides.

"Where is he!"

"Ryu-chaaan! My Ryu-chaaan!"

"I love Sakama-samaaa!"

"Kawaiiii! You look a little like hiim! Cool! Cool!"

Duo looked around confused, but his voice was consumed by the noise around him.

A particularly loud girl shushed the throng.

"Shh! Shhh! Cutie's gonna saayyy something!"

Expectant faces leaned unbearably closer.

Duo mourned the loss of the rest of his personal space.

"….. Umm…… Who're ya talking about?"

There were a lot of annoyed groans, growls, and whines.

"How can you not know Ryu-chaaan!"

"What a loser, not even knowing who he is…."

"Sakuma-sama's the best everrrrrr!"

Duo almost grimaced, slapping on his prize-winning jokester mask, and hoped that he could smooth his way out of this without getting mobbed.

"Ohh…. You mean, Sakuma-san?"

A chorus of voices in the positive.

Duo pointed in the opposite direction of where he had planned on going.

"He went that way."

Another stampede and they were gone.

_Heh. Another example of what peace is like.._

Amused, Duo leaned against the wall, flipping his braid over his shoulder, arms crossed.

"Kid, the coast is clear."

The teen stepped cautiously out, smiling blaringly.

"Hiiiii! Sankyuuuu, Mr. Persony!"

He blinked at the mangled Engrish that had jumped into their Japanese conversation.

"Er.. you're welcome.."

_Maybe I should get the hell out of here…_

When something pink suddenly obscured his view, Duo luckily didn't have a severe reaction; he had backpedaled some and his devil-may-care attitude was thrown off a bit.

The teen brought the pink thing—Duo now saw it was a stuffed ragged bunny rabbit, a red bowtie around it's neck— up to his ear, nodding enthusiastically; the teen looked up smiling more.

"Kumagoro likes youuuu! Not many people Kumagoro likes, neh Kumagoro?"

Duo looked at the teen with a strange look.

_He was…talking to a toy_

"KUMAGORO BEAMU!" And the teen threw the toy at Duo's face, which he caught easily, one-handed.

"Kid, I don't know why that group of girls were after ya, but you need to take better care not to get caught."

Turning to walk away, Duo shoved his hand in his pocket pulling out something small and metallic and hooked it onto the bowtie, then tossed the bunny back.

He didn't need that charm he had mistakenly kept for so long anyway. Better give it away to someone who took great love and care of old looking dolls, then to chunk it in the ocean.

It was time to move on from one Heero Yui. He had better things to do in his life than to pine.

"Later."

--

Not until later did he realize that he had met a one Ryuichi Sakuma, the number one pop artist of Japan at the time.

And Duo, generally such a good judge of age, completely shocked to find the 'teen' was only a couple of years younger than his own twenty-six year old self.

Duo, of course, went on his merry way, not knowing what the future held for him…


	2. Chapter 1

_A/N: Woo. I felt like updating. Here you go! Big thank you to **Quatre Winner** for suggestions as to how to start the chapter. :D_

_**mystlady **and **Lunaris Rinrei Hikari**, thank you for your reviews! Yes, this will end in DuoxRyuichi. :D_

_Disclaimer: Me no own GW/Gravi et al._

_Warning: Shounen-ai hints._

* * *

Strolling out in his paint-splatter long-sleeved T-shirt and ripped cargo pants, Duo scowled at yet another fast-food joint that had thrown him out and stuffed the few hundred dollar bills he'd earned into his pocket irritably. _Buggers. I really need to watch my mouth... _He shivered. _God, it's freezing._

Covering his hands with the ends of his sleeves, he flipped his braid behind him and turned his back to the store, stalking down the street and getting a kind of twisted enjoyment from seeing people move out of his way. He had heard wintertime in Los Angeles was mild but 12.8 centigrade temperature was breaching his cool tolerance to _cold_. Ambling around in this city in California, a state within the former United States, which had been dissolved into the Earth Sphere Unified Nation like the rest of the world's countries after the war, he didn't know what he exactly expected. He wanted to head to the colonies, but it was too expensive to live there. He had been living around this continent for the past six years, moving from job to job. Time seemed for him to move both agonizingly slow and quick. He was getting old. _Maybe I should have started up that scrapyard business with Hilde like she suggested.._

Hearing screeching and reacting in a wince, he turned to the source of the noise. _A karaoke bar in 'Little Tokyo'?_ He snorted. _Geez, can't stop thinking about who you left behind in Japan, can you? This is pathetic._ Duo paused staring at the entrance. He had nothing better to do. _Hell, why not. As good a place to hang out as any. Not like I'll be able to do that again anytime soon. Too short on cash._

First, a cheerful look set on his face out of habit and then he wandered in, taking a seat at the bar, and requested something cheap. It was hardly a moment after sitting down that his attention was caught by the nails-on-chalkboard singing on stage.

His drink was just as a poor-quality as the singer, who completely mutilated AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell'. _Cats howl better than that..._Grimacing, he downed the shot in one gulp hoping the varnish taste would distract him enough to ignore his ears.

After the fourth shot, he was feeling quite nice. There was a pleasant damper on his ears, and Duo waved off the bartender's offer for another drink, feeling tipsy enough. _Hmm. _Somewhere between the time he was taking shots and the time he waved off the bartender, a man had been jabbering away at him nonstop. He hadn't paid him any mind at all, only glancing at him by mistake. The latest screecher walked off the stage, and the person with obnoxiously black-framed glasses jabbed at him to try it out. Duo shrugged. _Why not? S'not like I'm great at anything, but killing._

He walked up and snatched the mic from its cradle before the other person did, who decided it was best to get off the stage by the look on his face. Winning the who-gets-the-microphone challenge, Duo looked through the song database for something he actually knew the words to, and something that fit the nostalgic setting of Little Tokyo. He found what he wanted and selected it. He knew 'Illusion Illness' by Gackt since he had gained alot of fame in the past few years, of course, but the question was, could he remember how to sing it half-drunk?

As the string instrument strummed lowly and hauntingly and an eerie tempo began like a musical box, he swayed some, closing his eyes and taking a soft breath.

The clicking inserted itself and marked where he should begin, his rich tenor voice filled the room at the right time, and the patrons stopped talking to listen. Duo shut out the rest of the bar and just sang, pouring everything he felt into his voice. His depression, his frustration, his unrequited love… The instrumental track only punctuated and accentuated his relaxed, somber voice. Whispering at key moments and gazing at a single person as if speaking to them, he paused for the instrumental as he swayed. His movement was about as stiff as a wind-up toy, though the alcohol made him too loose for that, then at the peak of the music he began singing again. This time venting anger into it appropriately. A barely heard "_tsuite oide_" ended the song.

Before the rest of the track could finish, a resounding applause hit him like a clap of thunder and a few whistles were thrown his way, even. Duo bowed with a flourish and handed the microphone over to the woman he had glared away. She started singing as Duo went back to the bar to pay his tab.

Annoyingly the glasses-and-formal-suit-wearing person was fluttering around him blubbering incoherently as he was quite smashed, and had paid his tab. Muttering his gratitude, Duo ignored him and walked out, disappearing to his crammed, sparse one-room apartment, and crashing on the couch.

--

Sakano couldn't believe his good luck at stumbling on raw talent like that in a starkly culturally different part of the world than he was used to; by happenstance he came to this place to relax himself in memory of the city he left.

However he lost him! He tried to catch the petite braided youth who ambled out sometime during his happy babbling about possible employment of such a remarkable voice….

He didn't even know his name or his address! They never exchanged business cards.. must be because he was the producer of Bad Luck for the NG Production Company. Bad luck always seemed to follow him after serendipitous events.

**--**

"Duo!"

The wind picked up and he shivered; he didn't even glance back at his long-time friend. "No, Quatre, I won't take your charity. Stop asking."

"But Duo, there's a job for you!"

His breath frosting on the air, he finally looked back with scathing intensity, not bothering to look beside his best friend knowing that Trowa was there. "I can take care of myself without anyone's damn help thank you very much. I'm thirty-two, not some damned eight-year old."

"It's a secure job opportunity, don't you want to not worry about—"

He sighed. "Subject dropped. Just let it go Qat."

With that he walked away far enough so he couldn't hear them, thankful that they stopped walking after him. He was tired of Qat's wheedling. Tired of everything.

Tearful, he crossed his arms at the chilly wind of Seattle that hit his back and flung his hair up, tilting his head up to watch the dull dead gray winter sky as snow spiraled through the air with a weary grin.

What was he going to do now? He had fled to Seattle, using up all of his money, out of paranoia after knocking unconscious a tall grinning, AK-47-clad, long-haired blonde that had showed up suddenly at his doorstep. He supposed he'd vanish until whoever wanted him stopped hounding him.

_Livin' like a hobo ain't gonna kill ya street rat, buck up. We'll make it._

--

Quatre dropped his hand and smiled sadly as he'd always done before, even if he disagreed with Duo's pride.

"If he needs us, he'll call." Trowa stood behind him acting as his center. His anchor when others' pain got to be overwhelming.

The blonde-haired man held a hand to his chest.

"I hope so. He's hurting so bad that I feel the sting every time I see him without trying. I want to stop that pain, but ever since..."

Trowa shushed him with a gentle squeeze to his shoulder. "We have to go."

The teal-eyed man nodded and stepped into the limousine that stretched up behind them. He took one last glimpse at the black-clothed back and thick brown braid before the door closed.

**--**

"Awwww! But I wanna stay, I wanna stay!"

People ignored the seemingly obnoxious teen that ranted childishly on his cell.

"Tohmaaaaaaaa!" Huffing a whiny assent, Ryuichi pocketed his phone; with a loud sigh and a flap of his hands he made his way down the road towards his apartment to pack.

He guessed it was important if his fellow ex-bandmate told him to hurry home to Tokyo (again) as if once wasn't enough. Though the first time wasn't so bad, he met and got to sing with Shu-chan, and all his sad thoughts could dissolve being near the brightly energetic boy.

Ryuichi idly wondered what could get Tohma to call him back less than four months after his parting. Shrugging to himself, and babbling about the wonderful weather to Kumagoro who listened patiently on his bed as the sunlight streamed in and glinted off the small undecorated encircled-cross still hanging from the ribbon on which it was placed.

He wanted to be known for his singing all across the world! His hands stilled once he was done filling his sparse bags of clothing. America was a big place, too. Russia was bigger, but it was too cold for him! Brrr.

Maybe he was supposed to meet someone? Tohma had tried to entice him with Shuichi after all. Y'know 'cause Tohma had this thing for Eiri Yuki and Shu-chan did too… but Shu-chan was a groupie and always would be. "A sad, sad thing, huh Kumagoro?" _He would never see me._

"Oh well!" Slipping on his large shoulder bag and grabbing Kumagoro by his neck, he headed to his door, but it opened itself. Mr. K stepped in. "Kei!" The thirty-some music idol glomped the tall American-born employee of NG Productions. K tensed up like Ryuichi had hurt him, so the idol pulled away, just now seeing that K had a blackeye and an arm in a sling. "What happened! Someone beat you up, Kei?"

"You could say that" was the gruff response from the usually hyperactive blonde.

"Aww.. I'll make you some soup to make you feel all better!"

"No thank you, Sakuma-san. We need to go-- now! We have a date to keep." Suddenly the hyper K was back and grinning, dragging Ryuichi across the floor, bag and Kumagoro and all.

"O-kayyy." He replied cheerfully, hugging onto his pink stuffed bunny.


	3. Chapter 2

_A/N: Aw no reviews? Bweh. I hope you keep reading people :D Thank you. The poem that is in Duo's journal thingy is made up from the imaginings of my mind. Please don't steal. :)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Gravitation or Gundam Wing. _

_Warning: Shounen-ai and yaoi hints._

* * *

_You ripped my heart open_

_Laid to bare_

_Bear the arms I bring_

_To pierce your own_

_Mutilate, extricate, propagate_

_Love or hate,_

_I want you to feel _

_Death_

_Clamped around your waist _

_Like cancer…_

Flipping through his old and cracked journal, Duo snorted at the angsty poetry; he had written them instead of entries when things got really rough during the war, especially with a specific gundam pilot comrade.

He kept this baby on him being his most prized possession; it couldn't be replaced. Tucking it back into the pocket of his jacket, he leaned back on the park bench. He was lounging under a leafless tree, freezing his ass off. _Fun, eh? This is called 'life'._

_-breee breeee, breee breeee-_

_What the hell?_ Duo glanced at his cell phone, which he made sure to charge hooking it into outlets provided by the Soup Kitchens, but he didn't recognize the number. He answered anyway. "Hello?"

A cool, yet calmly friendly voice spoke fractured English on the other end of the phone, asking if he wanted a job or not.

Duo was silent. "How did you get my phone number?" He asked dryly.

"Oh Duo." Suddenly the voice sounded very like an exasperated Quatre, but it was definitely _not_ him. "This is Seguchi Tohma from NG Productions in Japan. I'm interested in your voice. One of my employees met you in a karaoke bar."

Duo snorted. "So you send a freakin' hitman to come pick me up? No thank you. Bye." He hung up and turned off his cell, laying back. He'd rather freeze to death than to be hired by a dysfunctional firm.

"Hi.." A tentative voice called out to him. "Are you by any chance Duo Maxwell?"

The aforementioned man sat up sighing heavily. _Goddamn._ "What?" He asked flatly, eyeing the two men who looked to be in their twenties. One with obviously bleached long hair and the other spiky black hair.

"Makoto Suzuki and this is my friend Kenji Kanzaki." The blonde stated by way of introduction. "We were formerly known as ASK but we've disbanded because we lost our vocalist."

"What's that got to do with me?" Duo stated rhetorically, standing and pocketing his hands. His tone of voice had grown dangerous.

They held up their hands and backed away, but only Makoto spoke. "W-we just want to play music. We've been looking everywhere for a replacement!"

"So you traveled from Japan to convince me to be a vocalist." The petite ex-Gundam Pilot deadpanned. "You don't even know if my 'voice' is worth it."

The blonde pulled out a mini-disc, a storage device that specifically held video files, grinning. "I have to say that was the best cover song of 'Illness Illusion' I've heard yet!"

Sweatdropping, the purple-eyed man didn't look amused. "Doesn't he speak?" He gestured to the blonde's companion.

"Oh he doesn't know an ounce of English." He kept grinning.

Duo switched effortlessly to Japanese with a very heavy Okinawan accent. "'S'this better?"

"Maa-kun, I didn't know the foreigner could speak Japanese!"

"Please, Ken-kun, calm down! Of course he would be able to."

The subject of their conversation raised his hand and held his head with an irritated look.

"Look, mister." 'Ken-kun' clasped Duo's right hand pulling it away from his face, eyes welling up. "Ever since Taki-kun got booted.." He looked to the side closing his eyes, then opened them. "I want to continue our band!"

Duo snatched his hand away, growling. "No thanks. I said no before and I'm sayin' no again."

A click of many, many guns made him pause. Around him there were many black-clothed men forming a pincer attack. The two who had approached him had moved out of line of fire after he had snatched his hand away. Being surrounded like this would have made a normal guy's balls shrivel up pathetically.

"Hands up!" The squad leader cried.

But this was not so with Duo. Of course, he had no choice but to raise his hands, grinning maniacally. He wasn't too interested in killing people anymore, but if they shot (at) him, he might change his mind.

_Damn, they must need a vocalist pretty badly. Unfortunately, I've never had any training, so they're in for a disappointment._ "Ya caught me." He blandly noted in Japanese.

--

"Your mission if you choose to accept—and you will— is to train one, Duo Maxwell, to refine his raw vocal talent into a first-class singer."

With a serious face turned away, Ryuichi hugged his pink bunny rabbit, silently listening to K.

"Shape him up! After you finish, he'll be handed to Shuichi for PR and charisma counseling."

"Has he already signed the contract?" Still holding his stuffed animal, he grinned at K.

"Whatever Seguchi wants he gets. So I'm assuming yes."

_Not all the time._ The idol thought, images of the pink-haired dunce popped into his head. "Why does Shu-chan get to counsel him?" He whined superdeforming, waving his Kumagoro frantically.

"Because, Boss said so." K smiled prettily, which on his face looked scary.

Ryuichi spun a few times then he was back to his calm grinning self, snuggling Kumagoro. "It sounds like fun anyway!"

The honey-blond lackey reached past two stationed guards from the president's private squad, and opened the door for Ryuichi. They were both blasted back by furious yelling in English.

"NO, I WON'T SIGN. YOU PYSCHOS! LEMME OUTTA HERE!"

"If you rethought our offer, you wouldn't be so hasty to leave, Mr. Maxwell." The reply was calm and indifferent.

_Tohma's arrogance might be what's pissing this guy off more. _Ryuichi grin widened.

From behind the most interesting feature of the petite youth was his braid, but when he looked back automatically at the intruders the sharp purple eyes scathingly raked over them; it stopped Ryuichi in his tracks. Then those eyes went back to glaring at Seguchi. "N-O. You know what that means right? It signifies outright, blunt direct rejection."

When those eyes had turned to him, Ryuichi had glanced towards where K had been, but noticed he had mysteriously vanished. _How weird._ He shrugged.

"Sir, you don't like to sing?" An innocently cute voice asked politely in English. It was his forte after all. The bunny-clutching idol recognized him, though it didn't seem to be that the opposite were true. The brunette hadn't aged much in all those years apart either, only gaining some very faint wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. _If he had makeup on you probably couldn't see them_, he mused.

"What the hell?" Duo's glare turned back on him. "I wouldn't know. I'm an amateur, Mr. Sakuma."

_Oops, looks like he did recognize me._ He giggled in response. "How would you know you wouldn't like it if you've never tried it out? It's like saying you hate ice cream without ever tasting it! This guy's being silly, huh, Kumagoro?" His bunny nodded, and Ryuichi nodded too.

Out the corner of his eyes he noticed Tohma's face had darkened with glee. _He had hoped that I would help, to be expected from the sly one._

"What the hell." Duo repeated, closing his eyes as he scrubbed his face with a hand, then turned to Tohma. "Fine. On one condition."

"Name it."

"If I want out, I want out. Got it? Until then my services are entirely yours."

He got a dubious look. "How will I know that you won't run after leaving the building?"

"It's a promise. Things look interesting enough to stay and this is a paying job. I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie." His last ominous statement sent a chill down Ryuichi's spine.

_What kind of person is this 'Duo Maxwell', Kumagoro?_

He pounced Duo hanging off of him. "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaayy! Welcome to the family Duo-chan!"

A quirk of an eyebrow was the only thing he got in return. Suddenly his seriousness lifted as he hoisted Ryuichi up. "You weigh less than I do. An' don't use '-chan' with me." Setting him back down, he put is hands behind his head. "So, what do we do now?"

"Come on, this way, this way!!" And so, Duo was pulled along by an energetic Ryuichi.

"Isn't it more like a foster kid brought into a family?" K murmured, back into view next to the president.

"I'm thinking about adopting." He grinned enigmatically watching how eagerly Ryuichi dragged the ex-gundam pilot out. "He doesn't know, right?"

"Correct."

"Keep it that way."

"Yes, sir!" K grinned.

--

A coarser version of N. Vanasse's "Soleil" chimed out prettily, and a hand picked up the phone to answer. "Quatre Winner, speaking." A tired voice answered, then perked up extraordinarily. "He agreed? That's wonderful! I can't wait to hear him." He chuckled. "Yes, he's very stubborn as always." He paused, fidgeting in his long-sleeved silk shirt and matching pajama pants. "Information on his background? Well, he's an orphan from colony L2 adopted by the Maxwell church before it was burned down, and he assumed that name on his own… but beyond that, I don't know." He paused again, then his tone grew threatening. "You might want to ask him before delving into it. Duo doesn't take kindly to people who pry into his past. Goodbye, Tohma."

"Tohma?" A soft exhausted voice called to him from the bed.

"Yes, remember when he called? He asked me how close I was to Duo. Apparently, one of Tohma's managers on vacation caught Duo singing at a karaoke bar on vid, and liked it."

"That was the 'job' you were talking about? From how you spoke, I thought you were re-offering to hire Duo as a 'consultant'." From Trowa's vantage point, Quatre's face fell.

"You're right." He sighed unhappily.

"Come back to bed." Trowa moved slightly and the sheets that were covering him slid off to reveal tantalizing flesh that Quatre couldn't ignore. He climbed in, laying against his lover snuggling.


	4. Chapter 3

_Author's Notes: My computer got fixed. Everyone should thank my friend Jason. ;) He's what made this update happen. _

**_CrisscrossAnime_**_, thanks for your helpful review!_

* * *

The next morning started very early as Ryuichi had told him to after they had played nonsensical word games for an hour the day before. The sun was bright and cheerful in the dead of winter in Tokyo, beaming into the room through the window and landing on a floppy-eared pink bunny propped up on the table.

"I'm here Sakuma-san," Duo grunted unenthusiastically, entering the studio. Being naturally nocturnal, he was already unhappy with his new diurnal schedule, and being groggy made him grumpy. Besides that, he forgot to ask how much this job was going to pay; he assumed it'd be based on commissions, i.e. cd sales. He was hungry since he had no money.

"G'mornin!" Ryuichi grinned happily. "And don't forget to call me 'Ryu-chan', 'kay?"

"I'll grant ya 'Ryu', but adding the '–chan' is too much. I don't know ya," Duo replied, automatically reminded of how he tacked nicknames to his fellow pilots with that same title of familiarity, in particular to annoy two of them.

"Awwww…" His new mentor pouted, but didn't look hurt by his honest admission. "What about 'Ryu-sensei'?" He quirked his lips mischievously.

"_Ryu_ is fine!" The thought of calling anyone 'sensei' made Duo's skin crawl, especially because it reminded him of his own Professor G.

"Okay then! Wanna start your first lesson, Duo-chan?"

Letting out a short breath at his insistence in using those title suffixes, Duo looked around in the empty studio; empty save for them. "Not like there's anythin' else _to do_. Let's get started." He sighed resigned to the tortures of arpeggio. He had looked up what these 'lessons' would entail which was why he was unenthusiastic to begin with.

"Gah! No, no, no!! This won't do at all! C'mon, you!" Ryuichi plucked up his bunny and grabbed him by the wrist halfway dragging him across the room before Duo snatched his hand back his eyebrows crinkling in confusion. "What the hell?"

"Maybe the park would do or maybe a movie… or we can do whatever you normally like to do in your free time! I know a good restaurant." Ryuichi's lips perked into a joyful smile.

Pressing a hand to his forehead, Duo frowned. "Now you're not makin' sense. Are you askin' me out or somethin'?"

His 'teacher' tilted his head inquisitively then quirked an eyebrow, giggling. "Oh!" Ryuichi shook his head grinning. "The reason why is because Duo-chan won't be able to sing moody and tense like that. He's got to relax!" _No wonder his voice was beautiful on that mini-disk. He had been relaxed because of alcohol. Right now talking normally he sounds like a smoker for how gruff he sounds._

Rolling his eyes towards the ceiling, Duo shrugged unhelpfully.

"And _this_ is why Ryu-chan gets to decide!" Grabbing his doll he bounced towards the door. "We're going!"

"Yeah, yeah." For some reason the brunette couldn't stay sulky. "But is it ok to go out when yer so popular?"

A bubbly 'Yes!' resounded in the room. "Kei'll escort us!"

"K?"

The instant the tall blonde, with a heavy winter coat hanging from his shoulders, stepped into the room Duo was alert, on the defensive ready to run or fight.

"Now, now, Ryuichi. I can't escort you two since I'm busy managing my band. They're recording a new album and touring internationally soon." He calmly paused, eyes narrowing. "Besides, I'm sure he can take care of you both." Then smiled strangely with that edge of restrained sadism that made most people shiver.

Duo glared. "You were definitely with the Treize faction in the War, weren't you?"

"I'm flattered you can tell, Gundam pilot."

"_Ex_-Gundam pilot, asshole. The war's been over for _years_."

The idol from Nittle Grasper looked between them with a very serious face, before fading back into childish innocence. "I can see you two have met before! Duo-chan, did you happen to beat Kei up a couple of days ago?"

They both blinked out of their staring contest, and looked at him, neither answering.

"I thought so! No wonder Kei says you'll be able to care for the both of us! Yay! Let's go now." Walking confidently behind him, Ryuichi nudged Duo towards the door as K stepped out of the way.

* * *

"I see…"

"Sorry, I let it slip."

"It's no problem, K-san." Tohma leaned back into his chair steepling his hands. "His work ethic is stronger than a grudge."

"You hope." The manager of Bad Luck stated.

Standing up and holding his hands together behind his back as he looked through the floor-to-ceiling window to the Tokyo skyline beyond, he replied easily. "He's sharper than he acts. Most people who meet him assume that he's retarded or naïve. He's neither." Tohma turned back around with that sharp look in his eyes, the same look he gave to the last lead singer of ASK before pushing him into the path of an incoming car. "If Ryuichi chooses to take revenge for his family, that's his choice. I'm more worried about the emotional backlash of his vengeance." _And Quatre's wrath._

"Coldhearted as always. Why can't you be more like your uncle's son?"

Tohma chuckled. His tone wistful and amused. "I'm sure that if everyone was like that, there would be world peace."

A bird thudded into the window beside him and crumpled falling 12 stories down, broken. Birds flying into the windows of skyscrapers weren't uncommon, but the sudden noise had made K jump.

"K-san, next time my cousin is here, don't mention that his friend might be in danger."

"Yes, sir."

"Also, I'm re-assigning you as punishment for your lax tongue." Tohma smiled showed none of the malice K was sure was there.

"Yes, sir! Who will guard Ryuichi then?"

"Oh, I have someone in mind. You're dismissed, K-san."

* * *

Shuichi stepped out of the booth next to his two bandmates, stretching his arms over his head with a loud exasperated sigh. "Ahhh, man that took forever! I hope Yuki doesn't mind that I'm late for our lunch date."

"I doubt Yuki'd mind that much." Hiroshi smiled. His best friend's relationship with the notorious novelist had its ups and downs, but this month was the first anniversary they'd been together. Hiro honestly hadn't expected that.

"Focus less on that and more on keeping your voice well-rested until recording's over, Shindou-kun." Ever the serious one in their group, Suguru had his arms crossed as he chided Shuichi.

Their vocalist blushed remembering why he lost his voice a few months back. It had involved intimate time with Yuki and a bit too much 'vocalization'. Then he stopped as his idol exited through the automatic sliding glass doors with someone, a conspicuous long braid whipping behind that person, who he didn't recognize. If Sakuma-sama was back, why hadn't he visited him?

The red-haired guitarist leaned over looking in the direction that Shuichi had fixed his head in. "Oh? Who's that with Sakuma-san?"

Their third member smirked. "Oh _that_ is rumored to be the new vocalist of ASK."

"Isn't the band's name based on the initials of their last names?" Their bleached-haired companion asked curiously. Shuichi had a habit of changing his hairstyle as frequently as his clothing style.

"They'll probably rename themselves, especially if they change genres. ASK's style was punk-based pop rock, but with a new vocalist it might change. Who knows. I personally don't care what that band decides on. Let's go before our break's over." Hiroshi answered.

"You mean before K decides to make us tour sooner, like a week from now instead of two."

"What an excellent idea, Suguru-kun! We'll storm the world a week from now, instead of two! By adding more cities to the list we'll tour! They won't know what hit them!" K's eye was twitching non-stop and he held an AK-47 in hand easily. "Do I need to convince you differently?"

They all shook their heads, in various states of nervous laughter. His bandmates gave him a dirty look and Suguru winced. _Great, and I was hoping to enjoy my downtime too._

* * *

They were eating the ice cream Ryuichi had paid for, not having any trouble escaping the older generational fangirls that had crowded around them. It was below 5 centigrade, but above 0 as the slushes in the gulleys against the curbs could attribute, yet they were eating a frozen snack. As for the fangirls, he could sense them watching, but they didn't make a nuisance of themselves so he didn't bother mentioning anything to Ryuichi. "Sorry, but.. it's too cold for this." After only two licks, he chucked his into the trash when they walked by it, even as his stomach clenched from hunger. Being cold inside and out brought back bad memories. "Thanks for the treat anyway."

Ryuichi shook his head at that smiling. "That's ok; you tried eating it anyway! It doesn't feel that cold anymore!" Ryuichi's cheeks were rosy, but his breath had stopped frosting on the air as he ate into the cone left behind.

"Because ya equalized temperatures 'tween your lungs and this frickin' cold air. Jeez, I dunno how you can stand it." He hunched over arms wrapped around him, stamping his feet trying to keep blood circulating.

"It's a state of mind."

"So I've heard." He murmured. Not only had the damned ice cream brought back memories of his childhood, now he was thinking of how Trowa had remarked on the same thing with the ZERO system. His theory had been that Duo hadn't had the right 'state of mind' to pilot it, though Quatre had disagreed saying that anybody who could visually plot trajectories correctly in their head without calculating it would have to be particularly sensitive to any imagery/commands the ZERO system outputted to the user. And Duo had tried so hard to hide that tidbit from them.

"Hey, let's go in there!" Ryuichi grinned dopily, and dragged Duo into the Ramen café with him.

Plopping down at the countertop he slapped his hand down three times. "Excuse me. I would like some!"

"Oh, hello there Sakuma-sama!! Two orders coming right up!" The beaming waitress slid packs of chopsticks towards him on the bar.

Duo lifted his eyebrows when many of the customers didn't even look their way, though the storefront had women staring through the glass at Ryuichi. "Ya come here often huh?"

"Yep, yep! Most of my fans have matured, so it's not as scary as it used to be when you first met me!"

He snorted to cover the noises his stomach was making, relaxing a bit despite the eyes on him. "I've never seen that kinda positive response in civ—regular people before, so it surprised me."

"Two orders of beef ramen, coming down!" Two lacquered bowls, one after another, slid down the countertop leaving the waitress' fingers with practiced ease. Ryuichi let the first slide pass to Duo, but placed a hand down to catch the second, digging in voraciously stopping for a moment to grin enthusiastically at the waitress. "Ara! This is so tasty. Minako-chan!"

She blushed waving her hands at him disarmingly. "No, no. Don't thank me, thank the chef's skills!"

A sucking noise interrupted Ryuichi's next compliment. His student was slurping down noodles like there was no tomorrow. "Oh this is no good! Two more bowls please!"

The waitress nodded with a wry smile and went off to place the order.

"Duoo-chan. Kumagarou says you should take care of yourself better!"

Said man sighed out in annoyance, putting the bowl down. "I ain't takin' this from you too!"

"Ah! Snow and rainbows make dustbunnies?! You don't say Kumagoro. That's amazing!"

Duo's face vaulted at the nonsense he was hearing, but was derailed from his fuming, eating the rest of the bowl just as another two showed up in front of him. Without a word as Ryuichi babbled on he finished one bowl and then half of the other setting it down, already feeling better.

"And so the giant was tricked by Jack and he lost his goose!"

"Do ya often tell stuffed animals Mother Goose and Grimm tales?"

"Grim, slim, dim…. Is it a blimp?"

He laughed lightly at Ryuichi's non-answer. "Ya sure are weird. Thanks for the meal." He looked at the clock on the wall. "Shouldn't we head back?"

"Bing Bing Bing! Correct! Then we can start eye-ear coordination training!" Ryuichi hopped off of his stool after paying in cash and leaving a hefty tip.

Standing Duo rubbed his head with a hand, an exasperated grin on his face. "Why do I get the feelin' that I ain't gonna get normal lessons from ya?"

"Expect the unexpected! Go forth and conquer! Right Kumagarou?" He nodded his bunny doll's head, a metal trinket flopping on its stuffed chest from the bow it hung on. "Right!"

Shaking his head as he ran fingers through his bangs, Duo smiled happy that his cross had been well cared for, despite the sadness that swelled in him. _Damn you, Heero._

* * *

"Yui, have you heard from Barton?"

Wufei's partner raised his head from typing his report on his handy laptop. "No," he said flatly and continued typing in a flurry.

"Maxwell apparently has been hired by NG Productions."

The typing paused then continued.

"If he does well, he'll be a vocalist."

"Good for him." Came the dry response.

Wufei sat at his desk deciding that it wasn't worth his time. Yui was an able enough work partner but his personal life was lacking. He needed friends, but having shoved his best friend out of his life probably had done him in on that. It wasn't his duty to keep Yui in line, so Wufei sat back quietly, finishing his own report.


	5. Chapter 4

_Author's notes: I didn't know where to go at first, but then inspiration hit me like a mallet. I hope you enjoy! _

_**elena-chan **__and__** CrisscrossAnime**__, thanks for your reviews! The pairing is still ending as DuoxRyuichi, but the path to that is a convoluted one of course, though I won't spoil anything for y'all._

_Warning: Blatant DDR-esque ripoff. Hints of het pairings._

* * *

After several hours of what felt like goofing off as Duo was taught how to read the notes while tuning his vocal folds to the correct pitches as they practiced the scale in a game that Ryuichi called "Random Scramble", Ryuichi called for a break. Tossing him a bottle of water Ryuichi cheerfully pulled out colored plastic sticks and tapped his foot rhythmically on the opposite end of the room. He was ecstatic because Duo's range was just shy of three octaves from mid-tenor to the higher spectrum of bass. "Ah! Gotcha!" A small patch of vinyl less than a meter squared lit up displaying a white background on the floor. "C'mon! Let's draw!"

"You're a really free guy, aren'tcha?"

"Ara?" Doodling whatever came to mind, the idol had unconsciously drawn Shuichi and his band under glaring lights and a fuzzy screaming audience. Leaning back he grinned dopily as he shook a finger at him, tsking as he cleared the doodle with a quick swish of the 'eraser'. "I'll let Duo-chan know that Ryu-chan is a very hard worker!"

"Oh yea?"

Furious nodding followed by an energetic sketch showed Duo in all of his super-deformed glory with a mic in hand. "See? Duo-chan's already up on stage performing in front of thousands of fans! You should draw with me!"

"Why don't you have the multi-color ones? Hell of a lot easier to use than switching 'em constantly." He looked at the drawing chuckling a bit before a fistful of the colored 'pencils' was shoved under his nose. Placing a hand on Ryuichi's fist he pushed them away. "I can't draw."

"Sure you can!" Grabbing and opening his hand, Ryuichi placed a black platsi-color in it and closed his fingers over it. "Just try."

Snorting, Duo held it before clumsily air-drawing a grumpy face with jet-black hair adorning the top and a perpetual twitch-mark at the temple.

"Who's that? It looks like he would have wrinkles right here and his arms crossed too…" With a few more virtual lines, Ryuichi drew crinkles in between the eyebrows and a shoulder and neck to hang the entangled arms underneath caricature portrait. "Like this!"

"If I didn't know better, I'd have said you'd met Wufei Chang." He laughed.

"Is he your friend?"

"Eh, kinda. We haven't really spoken since the war."

"Oh that's no good! No good at all! Why not, Duo-chan?" Gasping, Ryuichi held his hands over his pink bunny's ears. "You weren't boyfriends, were you?"

"What? No! He found me mildly irritatin' even in his better moods. Plus, he fell in love with a doctor, which is funny since the guy had always seemed to be a complete woman hater." Holding a hand to the back of his head, Duo leaned his elbow on his leg. "Man, I still don't get that guy."

"Oh. He must have lost someone very important to him." Ryuichi said suddenly calm.

"Eh?" Duo dropped his hand at the sudden change in mood.

"Like his favorite cat or dog! That would be so sad! It'd be like losing my Kumagoro!" Hugging the doll close and turning side to side, Ryuichi pouted at his pupil before breaking out into a grin. "What's your important something, Duo-chan?"

Ryuichi's behavior and actions clicked into place for Duo then, but he didn't say anything. He had more in common with this ever-smiling idol than he cared to admit. "…Ain't none of your business."

"Who did Duo-chan lose during the war?" Innocence could be read clearly on his face, though Duo couldn't really trust it now.

"I lost way before, not after."

"Oh. Well, the war left me orphaned with Kumagoro! We've been best friends ever since Tohma-chan adopted Ryu-chan!" He grinned ecstatically.

Storing that information away, Duo leaned back on his hands. "That nutbag? Man, my first impression of him was that some crazy scientist combined Quat's and Hee—n…" Falling briefly silent, Duo pushed that out of his mind, grinning and brushing the bangs out of his eyes. "Wait a minute. Tohma's about the same age as you, why would he—"

"I'm glad we're friends, Duo-chan!!" Completely taking Duo by surprise he toppled him over with an over-exuberant hug that pinned the limbs that reflexively tried to roll him free, Ryuichi snuggled into him before hopping up and bouncing away. "Okay! Break's over!! Time for Dymanic Arpeggio Showtime X-TREME!"

Duo had just enough time to catch the small wireless headset with a microphone before Ryuichi stood at the digital soundboard with his own headset in place and flicked a large switch on it.

Frozen from the sudden noise, he looked at the gigantic projector screen that had unrolled itself from the ceiling as the normal lights clicked off and a disco-ball descended. "What the hell is—" The ground underneath him began to rumble as half the floor rose turning into a stage and strobe lights and colorful lights flickered to the tempo of the background music that had started to play before then. Looking around the empty room, he swore could hear screaming fans coming through the walls.

"Hurry! You'll lose at Sing Sing Revolution if you don't start singing!!" Ryuichi gleefully responded through the speakers hanging off the wall. "Put your headset on!"

It was the largest karaoke machine he had ever seen. Slipping it on and habitually readjusting the microphone projecting from it, he stared at the screen as notes floated up from the bottom with the appropriate word or half-word to match it as the lyrics played at the bottom of the screen.

As the notes blinked by, a bar in the lower right corner turned red and the screaming fans suddenly booed angrily as he blinked at the details on the screen of the flashy interactive game.

"What're you doing, Duo-chan? You can sing!" His teacher said over their two-way communicator.

He opened his mouth, but he could imagine thousands of eyes on him and that positively made him itch to hide. Singing while drunk had been a completely different scenario. He hadn't given a shit about the crowd.

Suddenly the simple song changed to a synth-ed pop rock song. A masculine voice came onto his headset as Ryuichi stepped on the stage with an outdated microphone in hand. His eyes had changed. The playful Ryuichi was gone replaced with a serious version, instantly proving Duo's hypothesis of the man. He wore a fool's mask, just like Duo except it felt more vibrant and alive. _Was he always like this?_

As Ryuichi hit the notes correctly to one of his most popular singles without even looking at the screen, he really got into it swinging his free arm around as he hopped every once in awhile, and pausing at certain moments to stare out at the invisible fans his foot keeping the beat.

Duo stared in stunned amusement. His delivery was amazing, but the jumping around bit was laughable. When the notes stopped floating up, the simulated fans' screaming became higher in volume and some even cried out 'I LOVE YOU!!' in both Japanese and English.

The lights stopped flickering, but the stage remained in place. When the score came up, Ryuichi had earned five stars out of five as a very detailed list of technical information judged the overall pitch and tonal quality of the voice and a visual representation of the accuracy of his singing was displayed over time. It showed a real-time line that was jagged but the averaged line was a beautiful wave that hardly dipped in either vertical direction.

The screen changed as it showed the best points with a silent video recording of how he was moving at that moment as a barely out of breath Ryuichi spun around laughing lightly and holding his arms out. "See! It's not hard at all, Duo-chan!"

"Lemme try that one." With a competitive grin, Duo flipped his braid, placing the hand on his hip.

"Sure!"

And so the ex-Gundam Pilot familiarized himself with Nittle Grasper's 'Sleepless Beauty', singing his heart out as Ryuichi watched calmly to see if any latent talent revealed itself.

Though after several tries Duo hadn't made a score higher than 4, he had the ear for pitch, and that was all the music idol needed to gain confidence in teaching a nobody to the music world.

There were very few seasoned professionals who could sing consistently at four stars after all.

**--**

Furiously typing, Heero stared at the screen devoid of expression, reading over the information for a case on a new terrorist group they had been trying to break apart before its fangs grew any larger.

_-breee- -_

He answered before it rang twice. "Yui, speaking."

"Heero!" A tender woman's voice exclaimed over the phone, "I'm so glad I caught you. Would you like to go on a dinner date with me?"

"How did you get this number, Relena?"

"How else? I asked Quatre."

"…" _Damnit, stop enabling her Winner. _He grunted, knowing that he wouldn't be able to keep his phone number out of Winner's hands since Barton would ask Chang when Heero refused to give it over.

She sighed petulantly. "Heero, if you don't find someone to love, you're going to die a lonely old—"

He hung up, removed the battery, and continued working.

Not a half hour later, Chang stormed in cursing in Mandarin left and right and slamming a thick folder down before picking it back up. "Yui! Turn your damn phone on!! Our priority case has us flying out in less than an hour." Stopping he looked at the emotionless man. "Another call from Relena?"

He nodded, only showing a bit of a grimace.

"If that _woman_ is harassing you, Yui, there is a law against it. You could easily block her ID." There was a bit of mirth in his words that irritated Heero.

He didn't feel that his almost-stalker was worth that much effort even though she annoyed him. Standing he slipped his coat on. "Where are we departing to?"

"Munich. Apparently there's a drug ring connected to that notorious Dancing Serpent group."

As usual, Heero didn't reply heading past Wufei to the second floor of the four-story car garage where their company car was parked.

The black-haired man chuckled at his partner following his lead, knowing that the once Queen of the World was only teasing the cold ex-pilot. She had married just last summer to a charming man that she had met several years ago.

Heero was the only one who didn't seem aware of that, having torn up any and all letters he received from her and probably missed the wedding even though it had been broadcasted worldwide.

Wufei Chang thought it was a pitiable notion that Heero would rather be alone than risk showing weakness. The war was long over by 16 years and yet it still raged within his comrade even after the failed coup by Dekim Barton.

He wondered if anything would ever bring the man peace of mind.

**--**

"Tohma, I wrote my decisions down in that vid-book. Please look it over before the meeting starts."

"Of course Quatre."

"Is there anything important on your end?"

"Bad Luck's going on tour in a week and I'm hoping your friend will be ready to be the vocalist in the 'warm-up' band." Feeling strange without a hat on, the former keyboardist of Nittle Grasper had to keep his hand against his side to keep from touching his hair, dressed in a lilac button-down shirt and a beige vest and pants to go with it. Quatre's fashion sense was abhorrently dull and unsophisticated, but to Tohma it was a small sacrifice to pay to play global CEO for a week.

"Isn't it a little soon? This is only the third day you've had him." Wearing Tohma's typical black hat and sharp-looking black suit over a red silk shirt, Quatre strangled the urge to shift awkwardly in the uncomfortable chair. His cousin was terrible at picking out corporate furniture.

Quatre was Tohma's cousin from his father's side and only a year older than he, yet he owned one of the most powerful corporations in the world. Seguchi tried not feel unnerved to see the war veteran smile so good-naturedly.

"They've practiced only for a day but Ryuichi couldn't stop being overly enthusiastic out of excitement." Running a hand through his hair, Seguchi sighed. "Please, try not to spoil him too much."

"You know I do my best not to."

The President of NG Productions did not let his eyes roll immaturely. By the time the week was over, his 'son' would be spoiled rotten. His wife certainly didn't try to dissuade Quatre's mothering either. The man should have adopted a brood kids a long time ago, but didn't because of his work. "You should settle down with some brats of your own, Quatre. You know I would trade my position for yours under the condition that the new headquarters for Winner Corporation be in Tokyo."

"Tohma, we need to go." Seguchi's 'new' bodyguard commented quietly, interrupting Tohma's persistent prodding before it elevated into a cool argument.

"Certainly, Trowa. Wouldn't want to miss that meeting."

"Stay safe you two. Love you, Trowa." Touching the hat on his head, Quatre smiled when Trowa only nodded reciprocating the feeling across the room.

"You'll stay safe as long as you take care of my Eiri and Ryuichi…" His cousin growled out before they both left the room.

Quatre sighed out heavily, standing up to relax. He would certainly miss his lover for the week they were separated but it wasn't so bad. They shared a connection though he could only faintly feel it in silence with his eyes closed in contemplation.

More than five years ago his cousin had suggested they swap places once a month to 'liven things up'. In reality, Quatre knew it was because Tohma's sharp business mind loved the corporate game and was bored with his relatively stable position in comparison to his cousin's tenuous hold.

It had been a doable exchange for Quatre. He had a passion for music but had never been able to rely on anyone to maintain his position in the Winner Corporation for a vacation. The two-day test run the first time they swapped had been nerve-wracking but extremely successful for the both of them. Nobody had noticed the switch even in the radically technological world in which they lived, since they were nearly twins in appearance and voice, and fingerprint and retina scans were easy to get around with the money that Quatre had at his disposal to buy state-of-the-art infiltration technology.

Well, nearly nobody. Most of the men in Quatre's Magaunauc Corps had noticed the personality change in 'Quatre' but only Rashid had been told of the situation, and of course Trowa knew before the plan was hatched. Meanwhile, only K and Mika had confronted the real Quatre on the ruse. Sakano, the producer of Bad Luck and close coworker of Seguchi, hadn't even noticed that there was any difference, only alluding 'Seguchi's' good mood to a beautiful clear day.

Sensing someone enter but only hearing the door click shut, Quatre recognized the bubbly presence of Nittle Grasper's currently solo vocalist and had to withhold the natural smile from his face at the 'floating' bunny that had appeared. He suspected that the idol already knew of the switch. Seguchi Tohma was not only Ryuichi's bandmate, but also a very close friend. They weren't legally a family, yet that didn't stop the President of NG from doting on the man, though not nearly as much as he doted on Eiri Yuki, a famous romance novelist, whom Quatre had met only twice.

"Hello! Kumagarou here for special report! Duo Maxwell is slated to be the lead singer in the band MaSK!! A Visual Kei pop-rock group! Maybe with gothic leanings!"

"Thank you, Kumagarou." Quatre had been greeted similarly each time he traded places with the real President of NG Production with whatever was most important to Ryuichi at the time of his personal updates. "But isn't that overdoing it a bit? They haven't any songs written."

The bunny was holding up a thumb-drive. "Duo-chan has been practicing songwriting today! Over 50 lyrics written, but only 10 worth singing!!"

"My, an over twenty percent creation rate. That is something."

When the bunny disappeared under the rim of the desk, Ryuichi popped his head out from the side of his desk with a big grin. "I get to socialize him with Ken-kun and Maa-kun, right, right?"

"If you feel that's appropriate, Ryuichi."

"I love you!!" Plastering himself on Quatre, the idol snuggled him hugging him tightly as the poor Tohma-imposter patted his back shyly.

Hopping away, Ryuichi turned suddenly. "Can I do PR and charisma counseling, too? Shu-chan's probably too busy practicing for his live performances!"

"I trust in your decisions." Quatre smiled not knowing Tohma's intention on separating Duo from Ryuichi after his initial thrust into the life of a musician.

"Ryu-chan's so happy!! KUMAGORO BEAMU!"

Calmly swiveling his chair to the side, the bunny sailed and landed face-first into the bullet-proof glass window behind him. With the darkest look he could muster, he firmly shook his head at Ryuichi as his fingers wrapped around the doll's arm and he picked it up. "You shouldn't throw things like that."

Glancing at the familiar cute bunny, he started at the encircled cross hanging from the bow. _Didn't Heero…?_ At which point Quatre had the entirely wrong impression of Ryuichi's relationship status in regard to Duo, but he only smiled as he handed 'Mr. Bear', the stuffed bunny rabbit, back to his owner.

"Kumagoro, let's go, let's go! We're Duo's new manager and producer!!" The idol slammed the door shut behind him as he happily ran back to the practice room, where Duo was playing Sing Sing Revolution as a reward for all his hard work.

The owner and CEO of the Winner Corporation would silently support them in the shadows, since it was Duo who had supported his decision to continue to pursue the once-reluctant Trowa.

"Believe in the dream and anything becomes possible, right Duo?" Quatre smiled.

Of course he wouldn't be able to keep the good news to himself.


	6. Chapter 5

_Author's notes: Hey, sorry for the delayed update. Life side-swiped me and all. XD_

_Thank you all for reviewing!! __**elana-chan**__,__** CrisscrossAnime**__, and__** Nebelkind**__! Feedback helps me stay motivated to write_

_Edit: What the heck FFN? -removes the repeated first sentence before A/N-_

* * *

The two younger men shifted in their chairs uncomfortably as a quiet Duo slung his feet on the table leaning his chair back, hands threaded together and behind his head, elbows poking out like two hollow ears.

"S-so I thought MaSK would be more appropriate since your family name is Maxwell." And so ended the long-winded explanation of the band name that the brand-new singer hadn't even asked for by the usually quiet Kenji, who sat off-center to Duo's right.

"That's great." Their singer's inflection was flat. "When do we start?"

"Start? You mean performing?" Makoto laughed, leaning back and throwing back a hand towards his right at the original member of ASK. "That's a funny joke, right Ken-kun? That's funny!" Kenji laughed nervously, not so sure that it was a joke.

"Look, we don't get paid until we sell MID files right? I'm starving. I gotta get some food or I'll keel over."

There was a loud gasp from the door emitted by Ryuichi Sakuma. "You should have negotiated a small fee into your contract, Duo-chan!" The idol tsked at him.

"I thought the band was ready to go. It was a bad assumption on my part, now that I know how much work goes into this job."

Nodding vigorously, Ryuichi bounced towards the door. "We're going on a field trip to the Hyong Dragon then! Shu-chan's busy so I'll be your manager and counselor!"

"B-but, we haven't even—" A miniature Kumagarou smacked Kenji in the head and bounced off. "OW! MOTHER-F—!"

Duo had dropped his hands swiveling the chair around to look at the ball-shaped beanie that had returned to Ryuichi's hand.

"No arguments! We're going because I say so!" With a great smile, Ryuichi eyed Makoto who was peeking over the edge of the table on the floor. "You don't disagree right, Maa-kun?"

His body bolted to standing. "Ah. Lead the way!"

"Hey, free food. I'm all for that." Duo stood as Kenji rubbed at his head and followed suit.

* * *

"What is this?" Duo looked down at the bold number on the sheet of paper surrounded by a large crowd of people holding instruments. "I thought we were going to eat?"

"It's a free ticket to one of the hottest restaurants, Duo-chan!" Sunglasses and a hat were the only items to cover the features of their manager. Duo wondered if it was really because of his popularity. Obviously his fans didn't pester him too much.

"Provided we pass the Stand-up routine in the bar, Sakuma-san."

Ryuichi only smiled at the ever-perceptive blond guitarist, his eyes indiscernible behind the metallic shades.

"93, you're up to prep." A heavyset bouncer with a mouthpiece clipped to his shirt thumbed towards the room where all the previous bands had been sent to.

"Well, I bid MaSK good luck!" Ryuichi's smile had turned wicked as he blew a small kiss and practically hopped through a door nearly opposite to them. Beyond the door was a smoky, noisy darkness before the heavy door clicked shut with a thud. Kenji and Makoto both slung their bags over their shoulders and walked down the long hallway dismissing the appraising looks from the members of other bands. They didn't speak until they were safely in a room for a brief warm-up. The two experienced musicians immediately set up their instruments as Duo quietly worked the musical scale, watching Kenji unpack an electronic drum set from the bag and twirl identical black sticks in each hand.

"So, Max-san—"

"Duo's fine." He growled lightly.

Releasing his guitar, Makoto held his hands up defensively. "You'll be playing 'Attribution', right? It seems our best bet."

Suddenly gawking, Duo blinked. "Excuse me?"

"This might not be a good sign, Ma-kun if he's reverted to Standard." Sitting in a well-worn chair, Kenji stated quietly as he quickly tapped the drums following some silent melody.

"Shush, shush." Dropping his hands the Makoto smiled. "Duo-san, 'Attribution' is your song and we've developed the music to go with it, though I would have liked a longer rehearsal to work the quirks out…"

A scrawny backstage crewman popped his head in holding out a splayed hand.

"'S'now or never, eh?" Duo easily relaxed into Japanese and took a breath centering himself to rehearse to whatever melody his bandmates—he had to start thinking of them as that—had created.

* * *

In between bands, Sally's finger lightly touched the shot glass she had just downed, weighing whether she should continue to hang around the bar after listening to crappy new bands play one after another. Wufei was on a mission and couldn't make it to their date, which left her with nothing to do because her mutinous secretary had practically booted her out of the hospital she managed by changing her security codes. Sally couldn't be that mad at Ellen, since she had only barred her access when she realized her boss had been working 10-hour workdays and 6-day workweeks from a lack of anything better to do.

"Shake that thang!!" The man catcalled from the back when three men came onstage. She turned her head towards the stage, eyebrow quirking at the suspiciously familiar vocalist standing front and center.

The normally mellow war veteran's eyebrows shot up. "Bloody hell!" She swore under her breath, a merciless smirk on her face as she opened her vid-phone to capture the performance, remembering how she had blown off Wufei's excitement in a fit of laughter when she had heard the news of the popstar-wannabe.

"Hey, ladies and gents! We're MaSK, and we're gonna rock ya with 'Attribution'!! Get to it Ken and Mak!"

The guitarist and drummer exchanged looks before jumping right into a funky rock melody as neutrally depressing lyrics were cheerfully sung in an almost psychotic fashion.

There was something powerful in the delivery that grabbed her attention and kept it in the moment of song.

"I'll be damned, Duo. You're good at this." She murmured drinking another shot as she shivered at the beat thrumming under her fingers.

"You know Duo?"

Hand reflexively shutting the phone as it went for the small gun tucked in her pants, Sally turned to the shorter brunette man carrying an odd pink stuffed bunny as she heard the crowd cheer and clap at MaSK. "Not really. He's a friend of my boyfriend." She looked away giving the hint that she didn't want to be bothered.

Playing with the toy as if it could actually move its limbs without help, the man replied with an extraordinarily young voice. "Oh! Kumagoro said any friend of a friend of a friend is Ryu-chan's friend!"

She stared at the unusual behavior. "Excuse me, but who are you?"

"I'm Duo's manager and trainer, Ryuichi Sakuma! And this is Kumagoro. What's your name, lady?"

Not quite sure why the name sounded familiar, she held out a hand. "The name's Sally Po, I'm the manager of the Tokyo Institute of Health and Well-being."

He stuck out the bunny's arm. "Kumagoro wants to shake hands!"

Laughing a bit, she smiled and shook it, obliging him. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Bear. But aren't you a bunny?"

"Lies! Kumagoro is Kumagoro!!" The bunny angrily flapped its arms and covered its ears as its owner made an irritated noise for it.

Finally removing her hand from her gun, she pulled out the hospital's business card and passed it to him. "If you get the sniffles, come see us for a free evaluation, alright?"

"Yes, m'am!" He saluted her stiffly and awkwardly before losing interest and started chewing on his stuffed animal walking away.

She blinked and paid the tab the barkeep helpfully slid to her when she stood up.

It was like Duo to find the quirkiest personalities in any given area.

Then it hit her. Duo's manager used to be part of an insanely popular band. "Wasn't it Nettle Grasper?" Sally wasn't really into mainstream music, but with a big name rockstar like his manager meant that Duo would get all the publicity he'd need. She only worried that his past would rear its ugly head up and cripple any chance he had at living his dream.

* * *

"Wow. We actually made it into the third slot." Makoto had his guitar case slung over his shoulder and a wry grin on his face. "I have to admit it wasn't our best work but the crowd response was really good."

Ken nodded. "We only practiced the melody once. I'd say more rehearsing is probably in the works. What do you think, D—"

"Exactly!"

All three were startled by the sudden exclamation from their suddenly present manager.

"Ya gotta stop bein' so sneaky, Ryuichi."

"For your first performance, that wasn't so bad. Except it was." Their manager hadn't stopped his cheerful tone at all. He kept the consideration that they only had five minutes for their rehearsal, but only found more potential MaSK.

"Ouch. No mercy, eh? If a master says it, it's gotta be true." Duo shrugged while the other two band members looked stricken by the sudden harsh comment. "When I get fed, I'll care more."

"KUMAGORO BEAM!!"

Duo ducked and the stuffed bunny sailed into Ken's head. "H-hey!" The black haired drummer tried not to pout as Ryuichi picked up his bunny.

The ex-gundam pilot grinned and looked at his manager. "You should really stop givin' yourself away."

"You guys can't eat first, since MaSK only made it to the third slot. You go first. The kind of food you get depends on your performance. If you do poorly again, you only get dumplings and rice!"

"Gee, don't we get a cookie for effort?"

"No, but I have lollipops? I have a strawberry one and a watermelon one. Sorry, Maa-kun." Their manager looked depressed that he had no candy for the blond.

Makoto raised a hand in a stopping motion. "I'm fine, Sakuma-san. I don't care for candy."

"Give mine to Duo. I'm not that hungry." Ken admitted only to himself that he really liked watermelon, but would rather his vocalist not pass out from hunger. The guy was much too thin to begin with.

"Duo-chan!" Two big suckers were held into view, which the slightly irritated Duo received without complaint. "They have gum in the middle too. Be sure to spit that out before you sing!"

"Yeah, yeah." Unwrapping the first that came to hand and pocketing the other, he stuck it in his mouth and gnawed lightly as he sucked. He got a gentle thwack and a shook finger. "Duo-chan, chewing on it ruins your teeth! Be more considerate of your fans!"

"Ha. What fans? We only performed once."

Ken and Makoto exchanged glances a little confused at the vocalist god's conflicting insinuations. Were they a good or a bad band?

"There was a doctor there. She said she was a friend of a friend of yours and took video of your performance like" Ryuichi opened his phone and aimed it at them "that!"

"Oh god, not Sally!" He said in English, holding his sucker as he laughed. "She'll make a fool of me with the other guys." Looking to Ken, he smiled. "Sally's an old friend. She's the type to prank ya if—"

They collectively stopped when men in tuxedoes approached them. Duo recognized heavy security when he saw it.

"Do you have a band pass?"

Ryuichi flipped the card up with a bright smile. "Sure do!"

Passing it under a scanner, the man nodded. "You're clear, head down this hallway to room 78. The first one on your left."

"Thanks!"

Duo let out the air he had been holding, masking it as a sigh.

"Something wrong, Duo?" Ever the perceptive one, Makoto glanced over at him.

"Security's pretty tight tonight." The ex-gundam pilot glanced towards the guards at every corner.

"It's always like this here!" Ryuichi added cheerfully.

"It's one of the classiest restaurants in town." Makoto added. "Their clientele is mostly rich people like politicians and lawyers."

"But tonight is the six-month wedding anniversary of WO leader Relena Dorlian-Matthews, isn't it?" Ken added quietly.

"Wh-what?" Duo stammered, before reflexively laughing. "Oh, boy. Just my day to haveta perform for Miss Queen o' the World."

"My, you know her, Duo?" The guitarist looked impressed.

"Eh. Not really." _Not since the war at any rate._

The group of four stopped at the dressing room with a piece of tape holding up a sign with their name on it.

"Kumagoro and me gotta go! Be sure to change into your outfits." The last word almost sounded like a threat, and coming from Ryuichi it made the band pause.

Duo's bandmates exchanged glances. "How bad could it be?"

Makoto eyed Duo with a look of 'You're not seriously asking that, are you?'. "Have you seen some of the things Sakuma-san has worn in the past?"

"No…"

"Well here it goes." Kenji stated pushing the door open.


	7. Chapter 6

_Author's notes: Phew. Sorry it took so long guys!! Finally done with this chapter. Enjoy~ And remember I love constructive feedback. ^.-_

_

* * *

_The anteroom of the Hyong Dragon was brimming with people in formal wear and courteous smiles with many just finishing their tiny salad as their first course. In her frilly dark purple dress accented with a lavendar silk scarf and gloves, Relena sat straight-backed and elegant with a constant smile on her face in case someone were to take a picture unannounced. The green-eyed black-haired gentleman sitting next to her, covered a chuckle with a cough in his white-gloved fist, when she began to fold the cloth napkin in her lap into a fan.

As they waited for the second course to be served, she leaned slightly towards him murmuring loud enough for him to hear. "Uncomfortable with the attention, Gilbert?"

"Whatever made you think I was uncomfortable?" He grinned and swirled the wine in his glass absently. "I heard that the entertainment later this evening would be comprised of talented 'upcoming' bands." He glanced over to the small concert of classical instruments on stage. "You don't think the constituents of this room would protest to…" This time a full-throated chuckle came out. "Low-class music?"

Her smile broadened. "Dear, it's our anniversary. If they have reason to complain, they're free to leave."

"With that smile of yours, I can't help but think that you've some reason behind inviting three new bands to play."

"Oh, there is a reason." She nodded lightly to the waiter passing out their plates. "But that can wait after dinner, can't it?"

"Or whenever the source of interest shows up on stage." He picked up his silverware, showing sophistication in the prim cuts that he minced the grilled fish into, which would go in the second serving, a Greek salad, placed in front of him.

She briefly flashed an innocent smile with a flutter of her eyelashes before doing the same, while her husband continued to look fond with a hint of annoyance. He never could leave a mystery alone.

---------

"You and your dead buddy said there was going to be an attack. Where?!"

Clamping his jaw down with an audible crack, the man shuddered as his eyes rolled back and his mouth foamed. Realizing two seconds too late to do anything, Heero dropped the body unceremoniously to the ground, looking at Wufei with a grim shake of his head.

As if on cue, Wufei's phone buzzed and he flicked it open with a curt 'Chang'. "No, m'am. Target committed suicide: poison, probably in a fake molar." He paused listening. "Understood." Hanging up he turned to his partner, jerking his head towards the exit as he headed that way. "We're to move out, Yui, and leave the place to the clean-up crew. Une relayed reported intel that the next terrorist attack will take place in Tokyo."

"Do they know where?" Heero ducked his head into the passenger side as Wufei took the driver seat.

Wufei checked his "No. Next flight out is in half an hour."

"Understood." Flicking open his hologram file, Heero air-typed the passkey and the shimmering screen displayed a series of characters. "New mission specs are updated."

"Good. Try to add some variety in your tone when you read it off, Yui."

Heero snorted, and attempted the exact opposite like he always did. Wufei inwardly claimed success since irritation was making the mission brief gruff instead of monotonous.

----------

Duo looked down at his outfit, trying out several flashy poses in the full-length mirror. "It's not that bad."

"Says the man who looks like he waxes and works out." Makoto grimly assessed.

"At least you aren't creaking in your pants!" The multi-braided pony-tailed man laughed, crouching with his knees bent as his leather vest flapped open showing off a nice six-pack, and mostly hiding how thin he really was.

"I don't think ruffles really suit my style though. I do think Ken-kun's got the best deal out of all of us." Makoto flicked his long, platinum blond hair over his shoulder in an outfit more befitting of an 18th century vampire. He was certainly pale enough for it.

"I look like a goth stripper! How is that any better?!" Kenji snapped, crossing his arms angrily over his black mesh shirt, trying not to stab his chin with the spiked collar around his neck.

"Gentlemen, let's not forget to thank our lovely hair and makeup stylists," Duo declared in an amused voice, then dropped it an octave and purred out 'Thank you' with a jut of his hips at the group of four standing after cleaning up their stations.

"You're very welcome, hot stuff. I'll be sure to by your audfile!" The graceful, tall make-up artist winked at them. "Who knows, maybe you'll be the next best hit, if your music sounds as good as you look?"

The other three laughed, and her female assistant nudged her in the side lightly. "Heather, don't tease them."

"Hey, we _are_ the next big damn hit!" Duo crowed confidently.

"I'm sure. We've other appointments to keep." The stern-looking hair stylist interrupted dismissively, heading towards the door as his male assistant struggled to keep up with large, heavy cases in each hand.

"Good luck, guys." The makeup artist waved one-handed as she exited.

Kenji complained about the chains on his baggy jeans being a pain as he sat down on the couch, and Makoto followed suit. They didn't look the least bit comfortable.

"Look, I know this band is very important to you two, but we're not going to make it if you go out looking like you don't enjoy this! Image, my friends, is _everything_." Duo nodded to himself with his hands on his hips.

"Exactly right, Duo-chan!!'

They all jumped as if someone had fired a weapon.

"Maa-kun, Ken-kun, go take turns posing in front of that mirror like Duo did."

They simultaneously thought the same thing as they looked at their manager. _How did he see that?!_

Duo looked curiously around the room wondering where the hidden cameras were and automatically mentally listed off the possible places they could be housed. "I'd do it if I were you. He might bean you again, Ken."

Reluctantly, his two bandmates did exactly as told, trying out different poses that suited their style, until Ryuichi was satisfied. Kenji and Makoto were a bit overwhelmed, but they'd admit that they felt a lot better about the clothes they were wearing now.

"You all have _flair_ now!" Hugging his pink bunny to his chest, Ryuichi grinned at them and then hopped in the opposite direction from them. "This way to the rehearsal room!"

Security thickened as the four traveled closer to the inner sanctity of the high-priced restaurant. They entered the room knowing that the thrum of voices just beyond the elaborately arched door would lead them to an ornate stage with a full audience. They got down to business tuning and practicing with the scant ten minutes they were given.

------

"Ladies and Gentlemen, as our after-dinner entertainment, I introduce MaSK, who placed third in the qualifying round that started two days ago!" The sprightly announcer went silent after that as Relena grinned. The lights dimmed and the audience clapped politely as the stage curtains lifted. _Quatre was right! I owe that little snit a steak dinner!!_

Gilbert looked at his wife's reaction and knew for certain that this was what she'd been itching to watch since they arrived.

A spotlight illuminated the frontman of the band whose braided hair was streaked with red high lights and his piercing purple eyes stared out over the crowd. The leather pants clung to his every flexed muscle like a second skin, and the strands of little braids were a nice touch since they hung behind him like a curtain. It made for quite the memorable picture.

With a confident smirk and a careless toss of his head, the singer grabbed the mic. "Oi! We're here to liven this stuffy party up! I'm throwing out a 'Happy anniversary' to the hot Princess in the back!" Stunned silence met his ears, and it only made him grin ever more broadly. "Now 'Retribution' probably isn't a song to match your refined tastes, but we'll try to make it as enjoyable as possible, since the fellas behind me are burning to play!" With a dramatic swing of his arms, the guitar and drums flared to life.

The golden-blonde listened entranced by the power of the music, her smile turning real on her face. "They're recording this, right?"

"Yes, should I be jealous?" He replied with a curious tinge in his voice.

"Oh no, don't be. We were rivals for the attention of same person, so we weren't exactly on best terms."

"Ah, that vague answer certainly has the power to settle my trembling heart." Gilbert wheedled lightly in amusement.

"Fine. I'll be more specific. I practically hated him when I was younger… You already know you completely stole my heart, so don't pretend that saying that made you nervous." Relena assured him, lightly brushing her hand over his on the dinner table before taking it back, and they returned their attention back to the song.

Not a minute later there was the sound of an explosion that rocked the room. Somebody screamed and suddenly the lights and music cut out as another explosion reverberated through the room momentarily overcoming the screaming of the audience, who were scrambling around in the dark.

When the lights came back on, the exits were blocked with plainsclothed people with automatic weapons. "Return to your seats! Or we start killing!" The mob of rich people were somewhat used to these sort of situations calmly did as such with fearful looks written on their face.

"Hey! Off the stage, or we shoot!" Another male with a gun trained at them came towards the two men whose arms were raised.

Ken and Makoto complied, exchanging looks, but not saying a damned thing about Duo's disappearance.

------

"Ahh, her Majesty, Relena Maximillan-Peacecraft." The masked woman bowed flippantly. "What an honor to finally meet."

"Who are you? What are your demands?" Relena sat up straight glaring her down, calmly.

The woman touched her hand to her chest in introduction. "My alias is Fang, and my organization is called the Dancing Serpent. We wish to bring down the current corrupted system of government. Its justice departments no longer work."

Admiring his wife's calm detachment, Gilbert coolly watched the exchange, a nasty bruise forming where he had received a punch to his face for being in the way.

"We do not respond to terrorist threats. Whatever you are planning to do won't work."

"Yes, of course. You, the blind optimist, believes in blind justice." She stepped closer peering coldly down at her. "It is a lie. A jury of one's peers is always biased no matter how well it's culled."

"Any system put into place by humans will be imperfect. Whatever system you have in mind will be no different, Fang."

The short brunette bared her teeth in an expression of a hollow smile, and then snapped her fingers. "Take her away."

"No, don't take her!!" Gilbert shouted, rushing for them and was shot two times in the chest, stumbling and falling flat on his face. He raised his arm some, as he looked to his lovely screaming wife, but it and his head lolled to the ground with a dull thump.

"Dispose of the rest!" Fang snapped angrily as Relena sobbed for her husband and flailed with all her strength. The lights flickered and the emergency lights came on, leaving everything in an orangey glow.

"Everyone DOWN!" Suddenly there was pandemonium as a lithe form tore through the soldiers, guns blazing and dodging, rolling, and spinning out of the line of direct fire.

"Get _going_!" Fang yelled, following after the kicking, yelling, and screaming form of her Highness.

"Duo!! DUO, I'M OVER H-hhhkmrrmrrphh!!!" A wad of napkin was forced into her mouth as her feet and arms were bound quickly together with plastic handcuffs.

He heard her, but he couldn't move fast enough. Suddenly an enemy combatant that he was moving too slowly to take down was shot for him.

"Go save her, Duo-chan!" The uncharacteristically serious voice yelled out to him, and at that moment Duo knew for certain that Ryuichi Sakuma was not at all who he portrayed himself to be. "Working on it, buddy. Clear me a path!"

With uncanny aim, his manager did just that as Duo hurried forward towards Relena, changing out his cartridges for fresh ones he had stuffed in the hemline of the tight pants. He didn't have time to check on her downed husband, but hopefully the guy's heart hadn't been pierced. He ducked into a doorway just as several gun-toting enemy targets came into range, spitting bullets at him. _Damn!! I really need some backup!_

They'd get away. It was him against too many. Gun held and pointing down, he hurried on down the hall after a few well-placed shots, and laughed at how easily it was to fall back into old habits. Then barely heard the unmistakable sound of a grenade careening down the tiled hall. He quickly kicked down the door next to him, diving onto the floor and rolling away as it exploded.

His ears ringing and his back on fire, he tried to move but found that something shifted unpleasantly in his back. "Awww, fucking great." He chanced a glance behind him after clearing most the debris and found a very large splinter of wood sticking out his back. "Guess I've really lost my touch…"

Men clad in black swarmed in, sweeping the area, two stopping to train a gun on him. "You are under arrest."

_And I bet it was fucking friendly fire too. _He coughed out a laugh and an unpleasant metallic liquid splattered out. "Hey guys, I'm just a musician, not the bad guy who took Her Highness, Relena, away."

"Silence. We will take you into questioning, once the medics arrive."

"Sorry, can't do that. I'm trying to stay conscious. I might have a concussion for all you know. Oh, and the name's Duo Maxwell." He was growing fuzzy from blood loss, and when the medics arrived they wrapped him up as best as they could placing him on the spine board on his stomach since it was impossible for him to lay on his back. "Ow, hey! God, I hate hospitals. You're not going to send me there, are you?" He was babbling mostly to himself he knew because it was too noisy to have much of a conversation, but another medic patted him lightly on the shoulder with a worn smile in her voice. "You look like you'll need a lot of doctors to patch you up, Mr. Duo."

"Awww hell. Sally? What did I do to have God hate me today??" He groaned unhappily.

"The one that wants to keep you alive."

------

"You saw it right, Ken-kun?"

"Yeah."

They exchanged uneasy looks at each other as they stared at their cheerfully smiling manager hugging the bunny absently.

"He really did pick up that gun and shoot all those guys in the head across the room."

"Yeah."

Ryuichi hummed and hopped in place, flapping his arms now and then, having an argument with his Kumagoro as they silently watched him.

"I'm scared, Maa-kun."

"Me too." Makoto scooted closer to his friend, arms crossed.

Kenji hugged his knees to his chest. "I'm never making him angry ever again."

"Good plan. I'll follow your example, Ken-kun."


End file.
